To think this is unprofessional?

[PigeonEgg]

Recently taken on a new contract, I'm a freelancer. It's a small one, only a few hours a week.

I sent my latest invoice to the client/boss and he replied "Invoice received, I'll pay it ASAP, I'm waiting on a few other payments to come in."

This has shaken my trust in the client, it's unprofessional, why not just say 'Thanks I'll get that paid ASAP."

In case it's relevant, the amount is less than £300.

If he doesn't have an easily accessible pot for payments for such low amounts, it makes me feel uneasy.

Yanbu; I wouldn’t do any more work for them.

Nope. You state your payment terms on your invoice and if he doesn’t pay by that date then interest.
You don’t walk out of Sainsbury’s and tell them “I’ll pay you when I get some money in”.

What payment terms did you agree?
Maybe have another conversation if you are to continue so it's all every clear a message to remind of agreed terms is easy

Presumably you agreed payment terms before starting? If so I would politely remind him of those.
You are not responsible for his cash flow .

I'm a childminder and this drives me mad every month OP. I've never had a month where I haven't had to constantly chase at least one person.

My payment policy is to be paid within 5 working days, which he knows and agreed to.

I'm sure he will pay within the 5 working days but it's the whole 'you get paid when I get paid' vibe that gives a red flag.

I'd never say something like that.

I'd reply to say "Great, look forward to receiving payment by X as agreed," to let them know you are not going to be a soft touch. X being the invoice or other agreed final date for payment.

Exactly - I don't need to know his cash flow and it sounds like a precursor for a late payment.

Agree it sounds like he's priming you because he's running late and, if he agreed to the terms formally in writing, then you need to find a way to enforce this. I've had issues like this and learned some regard freelancers as a soft touch and will put you to the bottom of the pile when it comes to paying bills. Follow a really strict invoice chasing routine - regular reminders, activate interest penalties if that's in your contract and then threaten court. You'll probably lose them as a client if you're really strict but unless you are truly desperate for the work, that shouldn't matter.

But, 5 days is really short. I'm also a freelancer and a lot of my clients will not accept anything less than 28 days. Might be worth considering whether it is realistic to expect people to pay that quickly. (This will depend on who your client is - if they are also a one man band, 5 days should be OK but a bigger company with a proper accounting function probably won't).

I agree that 5 days is completely unrealistic. It is more usual to have a payment period of 28 or 30 days. I was a freelancer for a long time, and part of that is accepting that payments aren't reliable and come in "as and when".

Pay it no mind. You have payment terms, so as long as he sticks to those, don’t worry yourself. I agree with pp that five days is quite short though most contracts we deal with are also 28 days, but I work for a large company so that might be why.

Some people are just unnecessarily chatty, I wouldn't read too much into it. However, as a freelancer, I allow 28 days for payment. 5 days is too short for a lot of people especially if they are larger companies that need to clear it with their finance department.

Depends - is the invoice due immediately or is there a 7-14 day payment window? If the latter, then I think it’s professional to acknowledge receipt and that it’ll be paid shortly.

Make sure you bill small and regular if you keep working for him. At first sign of non payment, I'd pause the work until payment was received.

Not in my experience.

It's the "I'll pay you when I get paid" comment that I find unnecessary and unprofessional.

If you're struggling with cash flow so much you don't have a few hundred in your account, don't hire someone.

I’ve never worked anywhere where freelancers got paid within 5 days of an invoice being sent (media). You must only work for tiny organisations or one man bands if you have been able to enforce that. Everywhere I’ve worked has 2 payment runs per month and you get paid on the first payment run 28 days after your invoice has been sent.

That’s really normal accounting practice for big companies. I’m surprised you haven’t encountered this before.

If not being paid within 5 days doesn’t work for you however, I think you may just have to decline further work from this client. That assumes that you will have other work to fill that time however and that it’s economically better for you not to have the work at all than be paid on a normal schedule.

5 days is very short although I'd usually pay an invoice within that time. I find 14 or 28 days to be more usual. I did recently have a tradesman who did some work in our house. As he left he said "I'll send you your invoice this afternoon and I'd like to be paid today to avoid having to have any awkward conversations about chasing payment" 😐 Put me right off using him again.

But I digress. I don't think you are unreasonable to see this as unprofessional. The bit about waiting for other payments was totally unnecessary.

YANBU - as you say, he should have enough funds in reserve for payments like that. If he doesn't, he shouldn't be taking on freelancers.

YANBU, we run our own business and this is what we hear all the time.

We do give 30 days though.

Always amazes me that seemingly huge companies have zero cash flow, its worrying.

As long as he does pay within the 5 days then just ignore it. It could just be conversational, they could have a casual way of speaking which sounds a little unprofessional.
Is there anything else to suggest the guys business is failing? Does his company make a profit?
If he is late do you have a plan or policy in place?
I'd say until he is actually late you should probably give him the benefit of the doubt.

I'd have read that sentence (obviously without the context of the rest of the message whihc might change it) as he's waiting for other bills to come in and he'll pay them all together. I work for a very small business and try to do that as its just easier to do all in one go.

For freelancers, this is not an unusual payment term. Large companies often insist on payment terms of 30 days, but individuals shouldn't have to carry such a financial risk. I have a payment term of 7 days, but almost all other freelancers I know require payment upon receipt of invoice.

Exactly!

@PigeonEgg I've just started a small business and cash is low on the ground, there's no way I'd be hiring someone not knowing when and if I could pay them. Is he not anxious and embarrassed?